Community Health Workers and Teleaudiology as a Culturally-relevant Approach to Improving Access to Hearing Health Care

NCT03864003 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: 1F32DC017081
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 28
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The purpose of this study is to test the feasibility of a teleaudiology intervention with assistance from Community Health Workers to improve access to hearing health care.

Conditions

Hearing Loss

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Self-efficacy: The Self-Efficacy for Situational Communication Management Questionnaire

  The Self-Efficacy for Situational Communication Management Questionnaire (Jennings, 2005; Jennings et al, 2014) measures self-perceived hearing ability and hearing self-efficacy, or a participant's beliefs in their ability to manage communication with acquired hearing loss. The SESMQ contains 20 situations that are rated on two scales, hearing ability and perceived self-efficacy. Participants respond on a Likert scale from 0 (not well at all) to 10 (very well) to how well they can hear and how well they can manage in each situation. Total scores on each scale range from 0-200, with higher scores representing better perceived self-efficacy and better hearing ability. The two scales are scored and reported separately. We will evaluate the differences in SESMQ scores between experimental and control groups at 2-weeks post hearing aid fitting. Analyses will utilize baseline data and follow-up analyses will occur for 6-week and 12-week timepoints.

  Baseline, 2 weeks, 6 weeks, and 12 weeks after hearing aid fitting

Secondary Outcomes (5)

• Hearing aid benefit

  Baseline, 6 weeks, and 14 weeks after hearing aid fitting

• Satisfaction with teleaudiology service delivery

  2 weeks after hearing aid fitting

• Qualitative outcomes via semi-structured interviews

  14 weeks after hearing aid fitting

• Average hours of hearing aid usage per day

  2 weeks, 6 weeks, 14 weeks after hearing aid fitting

• Subjective hearing aid benefit

  2 weeks, 6 weeks, 14 weeks after hearing aid fitting

Study Arms (2)

Experimental group

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants randomized to the experimental group will receive hearing aid fitting and verification services via teleaudiology with local, hands-on support from a Community Health Worker.

Behavioral: Community Health Workers and Teleaudiology as a Culturally-Relevant Approach to Improving Access to Hearing Health Care

Control Group

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Participants randomized to the control group will receive hearing aid fitting and verification services via teleaudiology with local, hands-on support from a non-Community Health Worker (undergraduate student in Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences).

Behavioral: Community Health Workers and Teleaudiology as a Culturally-Relevant Approach to Improving Access to Hearing Health Care

Interventions

Community Health Workers and Teleaudiology as a Culturally-Relevant Approach to Improving Access to Hearing Health Care BEHAVIORAL

In this project, remote hearing aid fittings will be delivered by an audiologist with patient-site support from a local facilitator for a cohort of older adults (\>50 years) from a rural area that has been identified as under-resourced for hearing health care.

Control Group; Experimental group

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 50 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Bilateral hearing loss within the fitting range of study hearing aids

You may not qualify if:

• Medically unqualified to receive hearing aids
• Current hearing aid user
• Cognitively impaired

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Arizona: lead

Study Sites (1)

Mariposa Community Health Center

Nogales, Arizona, 85621, United States

Location

Related Publications (2)

• Coco L, Leon K, Navarro C, Piper R, Carvajal S, Marrone N. "Close to My Community": A Qualitative Study of Community Health Worker-Supported Teleaudiology Hearing Aid Services. Ear Hear. 2024 Sep-Oct 01;45(5):1191-1201. doi: 10.1097/AUD.0000000000001507. Epub 2024 May 30.

  PMID: 38812073 DERIVED

• Marrone NL, Nieman CL, Coco L. Community-Based Participatory Research and Human-Centered Design Principles to Advance Hearing Health Equity. Ear Hear. 2022 Jul-Aug 01;43(Suppl 1):33S-44S. doi: 10.1097/AUD.0000000000001183. Epub 2020 Jun 13.

  PMID: 35724253 DERIVED

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Hearing Loss

Interventions

Community Health Workers

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Hearing Disorders; Ear Diseases; Otorhinolaryngologic Diseases; Sensation Disorders; Neurologic Manifestations; Nervous System Diseases; Signs and Symptoms; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Allied Health Personnel; Health Personnel; Health Care Facilities Workforce and Services

Study Officials

• Laura S Coco, AuD

  University of Arizona

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Principal Investigator

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: March 3, 2019
• First Posted: March 6, 2019
• Study Start: October 30, 2019
• Primary Completion: March 27, 2020
• Study Completion: June 4, 2020
• Last Updated: May 17, 2022

Record last verified: 2022-05

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

US (1)